JMHO,

Too much name calling. It is sad that the country has gotten to this point where there is so much animosity and so little real consideration for finding the answers to our problems.

It makes me think the president's politically motivated program which attempts to divide us up by; rich/poor, business/government, black/white, men/women, bad cops/racial bias is really working.

Too bad so many people don't recognize this and are willing to participate in the personal attacks as he wishes. (Another conspiracy theory?)

1oldgeezer

nwtk2007,

Regulated? by whom? the government?

The only real answer was given to us by our founders, limit the power of the government, and maintain a free enterprise business system where the citizens retain the control by making the businesses compete for your money. In effect, voting on what businesses stay in business by which product you choose to buy, all done without a controlling bureaucracy.

Of course some reasonable government regulation should be used sparingly (to assure all businesses compete on the same level) but leave the real choices up to the citizens. In a competitive market, you and I are smart enough to spot abuses. Consider what you do when you choose which new automobile to buy, Your scrutiny keeps the businesses more honest than any bureaucrat could. (Do not expect perfection in any system, when you try this by regulation, you generally just trade one problem for a worse one.)

1oldgeezer

J Anthony,

Of course you are right, and, even though there are responsible businesses that are just as moral as you are....you should expect businesses to always try to expand their profit at your expense. Without government, in a free market, they can only get something from you by your agreement. Their power is limited by COMPETITION from other businesses that provide other choices for you. The only way you, the purchaser, can control abuses by businesses is to have a free market where they must compete for your money, free of government mandate; a free competitive capitalistic market instead of the crony capitalistic system we have now in many sectors..(healthcare, green energy subsidies, and the pending global warming scam (pending EPA regulations) come to mind).

I may be naive, but you do understand that we won't get relief by expecting all businesses and politicians to be honest, don't you? .

1oldgeezer

eagleye13,

The "corporation of the United States of America" is only possible because of the power of the federal government. Power that was purposely prohibited by our founders by the constitution they provided as the law of the land.

It is NOT the businesses that are the root cause; without the government power (and political corruption) behind them they are under our (citizens) control by what we CHOOSE to buy or support. With true competition in a free market they can only try to convince us to buy from them; three ways...words (advertisements), quality of the product, or best price, WE choose.

You can bad mouth the businesses all you want (I know it feels good) but the power to operate corruptly does not lie with the businesses, it is the increasing (illegal) GOVERNMENT power.

If you really expect to stop the "Industrial complex" you must resist the present efforts to expand government power and even take back most of the power of the executive agencies (no matter how complicated you think this to be) if you expect to have any success in returning the power to the US citizens.

Point: You must understand the cause of the problem before you can have any hopes of effecting a solution.

1oldgeezer

eagleye13,

You are right, we have a "bought government", only because they have something to sell (power) and they are working very hard to gain even more control (power to sell). (Consider the huge step in that direction Obamacare provided).

Consider the power that the executive agencies (IRS, EPA, etc - unelected bureaucrats) have in the ability to simply pass "regulations" (in effect laws); this should be changed with a requirement that all significant regulations must have a cost/benefit analysis and then be approved by congress (elected bureaucrats) before it can take effect.

The point is, we need to work at taking this power back; support and vote for the politicians who believe in less federal government power (constitutional restrictions) and more freedom for the citizens. You and I both know who they are. (Note: There are govt expansionists in BOTH parties).

1oldgeezer

[quote=eagleye13]Blood Money: These Companies and People Make Billions of Dollars from War
War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it. –George Orwell
The late United States Marine Corps Major GeneralSmedley D. Butler is perhaps most famous for his post-retirement speech titled “War is a Racket.” In the early 1930s, Butler presented the speech on a nationwide tour. It was so popular that he wrote a longer version as a small book that was published in 1935.
Butler points to a variety of examples, mostly from World War I, where industrialists whose operations were subsidized by public funding were able to generate substantial profits essentially from mass human suffering.
The work is divided into five chapters:
1. War is a racket
2. Who makes the profits?
3. Who pays the bills?
4. How to smash this racket!
5. To hell with war!
It contains this summary:
War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people.
Only a small ‘inside’ group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.
What Butler was candidly describing was later referred to as the “military-industrial complex”by Dwight D. Eisenhower, who warned Americans of its existence in his farewell address in 1961:
Butler went on to say…
In the World War [I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows.
How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?
Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few — the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill.
And what is this bill?
This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations.
For a great many years, as a soldier, I had a suspicion that war was a racket; not until I retired to civil life did I fully realize it. Now that I see the international war clouds gathering, as they are today, I must face it and speak out.
Butler also exposed the Business Plot, an alleged plan to overthrow the U.S. government. In 1933, Butler told a congressional committee that a group of wealthy industrialist businessmen (including individuals from General Motors, Prescott Bush, grandfather of George Bush Jr., J.P. Morgan, and the Rockefeller dynasty) were planning a military coup to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Butler selected to lead a march of veterans to become dictator, similar to other Fascist regimes at that time. The individuals involved all denied the existence of a plot, and the media ridiculed the allegations, calling them a “gigantic hoax.”
A final report by a special House of Representatives Committee confirmed some of Butler’s testimony.
****
Despite warnings of its existence and imminent expansion, the military-industrial complex (or military-industrial-congressional complex) remains in operation today. It is an iron trianglethat comprises the policy and monetary relationships which exist between legislators, national armed forces, and the arms industry that supports them. These relationships include political contributions, political approval for military spending, lobbying to support bureaucracies, and oversight of the industry.
It is a major reason we are stuck in a perpetual war……
http://www.globalresearch.ca/blood-money-these-companies-and-people-make-billions-of-dollars-from-war/5438657[/quote]

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eagleye13,

There is much truth in the post above but a little unbalanced in it's main premise that rich people and companies start wars.
As I remember, The leader of Germany started World war I and II in an effort to "cleanse" the population and rule the world. North Korea invaded South Korea; North Vietnam invaded South Korea,..the soviet union story, more of the same.... and so on as History tells us that wars are started by the Heads of All Powerful Governments seeking to rule the masses. (You may note that the world would now be speaking German if our evil businesses had not been able to provide the resources to resist.)

The truth in the above post is the part about the Government involvement. For some years now we have not had a true free capitalistic system, it has been taken over by our Federal government and converted to a crony capitalistic system.
Consider the industrial complex is comprised of "buyers" (businesses) and sellers (government). Who is to blame? Only the buyers? The sellers (politicians) are not forced to sell; and without something to sell (government power) they would not be able to sell. I submit the MAIN source of corruption is the unconstitutional power the Federal government has gained, without this power they would have much less to "sell".

The point being, an all powerful federal government (like we are approaching) has the power to be all corrupt. We need to consider that when we consider the source/cause of this corruption we are experiencing. Bind the Federal Government down with the constitution.

1oldgeezer

dennisimoto,

At the moment in time.... it seems human nature and evil in this world is about to destroy God's children's Grand experiment into freedom that our founders risked their lives and honor to provide for us.

1oldgeezer

jeremiahbfrog,

It is thinking like this that got us the two Democratic parties (even though we call one Republican) we have now.

Speaking for myself, I want a truly conservative candidate who stands for what is good for America, not just a "politically tuned" politician that some liberal says is needed in order to get elected.

I am ready to stand with someone who offers a real choice other than this socialist "big government solves all problems" party to one that returns constitutional personal and financial freedoms to the citizens. One that realizes that the country's prosperity depends on a real free enterprise (not a government directed) business climate, and restricts the Federal government to that specified by the constitution.

We, as a country, need to at least try to get the country back before it is too late; If there are enough useful idiots who will vote for more of what we now have, I am prepared to endure the misery too, just knowing that they also are getting what they deserve. (I don't think that will happen just because we are given a real conservative candidate).

1oldgeezer

3jack,

Not surprising that your liberal response is one to simply denigrate someone.

Do you agree it is wrong for Obama to now take the step of making it official or not ?? (Wonder when the attempt to "Blame Bush" will end..??)

1oldgeezer :?: :?: :?:

Worried for our children,

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

1oldgeezer

Mom8052,

I think you and I pretty much see eye to eye on the black/white issues. In my post I was paraphrasing (poorly) what I thought KHH1 must be thinking by putting it into plain language based on his post.

The whites can't solve the black/white racial problems until more blacks can forget they are blacks (Afro Americans) and realize they are AMERICANS and are no more entitled to preferences/benefits because of historical slavery than is anyone else. They need to get the chip off their shoulder, get an education, go to work and compete for that job, forget the "diversity" crap. I, as a conservative, am perfectly willing to accept any black as an equal when he shows that he, as an individual, is deserving.

Many blacks have demonstrated these qualities and are very successful. It seems that many liberals have a need to "feel good" about themselves and do the things that make themselves feel good even when the action really only makes the problems worse.

Liberal thinking seems to place intentions as being more important than results. (If the liberal is not simply misguided, then another possibility is, the liberal thinker places his/her feelings of gratification above the needs of the persons they are supposedly trying to help.)

1oldgeezer

KHH1,

OK, I think I understand. You believe that our racial problems are totally a problem because all (or most) whites are racists and bigoted, solely a "color" problem created by us white bigots and the Tea Party, it can't be a behavior problem brought about by the constant preaching by this admin that blacks are "victims". Not even a "smidgen"...right?

?"the rest of us are getting alone fine."? You mean when "we" can demonstrate and burn our own businesses down? I see.

Good God, man, what world are you living in? No one can really be that dumb! (You have to be trolling; are you being paid enough to sell your soul?)

1oldgeezer

KHH1,

I, for one, believe that you are capable of much more clear thought than what your comments suggest. One common characteristic we all have is we have basic beliefs ingrained in our being; things that we "wish" or "feel" are true and feel threatened if someone suggests we are wrong.

It takes a much better man to honestly evaluate evidence that might prove us wrong than it does to simply insult anyone who has a different belief.

I will cite an example of mass indoctrination by the progressives that has intentionally taken place over the years;
Business is evil, greedy, and gouges you every chance they get. This seems to be readily accepted by liberals who "wish" all companies just operated for the benefit of "society" by not even making a dirty profit. (Do you recognize this?)

The truth is companies provide everything you and I use in our daily lives, (what commodity do you use that the government produces?) and a dirty profit is actually fair and necessary if they are to remain in business. The competition to produce a dirty "profit", and your freedom to choose which to buy, is the single most driver responsible for producing the best product at the best price, and prosperity for a nation. (You can see evidence of this in the auto and fast food markets)

Does it feel good to you to believe that businesses are evil ? If so, you have bought one of the "divisive" lines that are politically put forth to justify more government expansion.
Most citizens of voting age now have been educated by the public schools, and/or liberal professors, and have been taught all the bad things about this country with emphasis on slavery for example, and none of the benefits of the good characteristics of a truly free country. The main thrust is that America is a racist country still and must be changed, that is VERY FAR from the truth. (It was American whites that fought and died to get rid of slavery, doesn't that count?) This is another tactic, being practiced by our president and attorney general even as we speak, meant to divide us and enable more government control of our daily lives (counterproductive to our prosperity and true racial equality and harmony).

Bottom line, we all need to resist the divisive hype and make up our minds about what is best for the country and have faith in our fellow citizen no matter what color or political persuasion they are. Look for truth, not vindication of opinion.

1oldgeezer

KHH1,

How do you explain the success of the prominent blacks who agree with conservatives. Some whites just forgot to discriminate against those blacks who got educated, worked hard and succeeded??????

Of course there is racial bias, both ways, and IT IS GROWING because of this administration's (with your help) drum beat of entitlement creating hate in blacks when they don't get it, and hate and resentment in whites when blacks are given preference (discrimination against individual whites).

We can get to real racial equality when the blacks can begin to understand they are NOT entitled just because they are black. I never had any slaves, did you?
I, as a conservative, am perfectly willing to accept any person based on his character and behavior. As a matter of fact, bad behavior by anyone of any color (even white) will bring disapproval and bias.

Do you see improvement in the racial divide since Obama has been president to indicate we are on the right track? Are we on the right track by telling the blacks that all whites hate them (even unconsciously) and are "keeping them down" and that the whites will start to love them if they will just demonstrate more, shoot more cops, and burn a few more buildings?? Open your eyes and see what is really happening, it is politically motivated.

1oldgeezer

KHH1,

Seems like it may be "hate the right page" more than hate the left page.

You REALLY can't see the truth in the statements made by this Ghostgotcha post? Especially what condaleeza Rice had to say. The "victimhood" and subsequent deserved "entitlement" preached by this administration (both Obama and Holder) is the primary reason why racial tensions have increased so dramatically since People (like you?) elected Obama.

Why not let us know in a post whether you agree or disagree with that message instead of simply trying to denigrate someone's character as a typical liberal response.

Your response uses the tactic of trying to divert the discussion from the real problems and their solution. If we cannot have an honest discussion we will never PEACEFULLY solve the problems.

Your post brings suspicion about your motives because you are obviously intelligent enough to understand and discuss the real problem if you wanted to. ????????? Why the tremendous attempt by Obama and Holder to inject race in the Michael Browne and Trayvon Martin cases (even before any facts were known) when there was proof that it was NOT racially motivated? Does that mean anything to you with regard to this administrations intentions? At least be honest with yourself.

1oldgeezer